Pepper Ann
by Aaliyah-Charity
Summary: Hey, this is just a fun story so just read it and review please! ^_^!
1. Default Chapter

Pepper Ann  
  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Hey! I'm having writer's block on my other stories so I just decided to do one of my story ideas, but most of them are already done by other writers! But this one isn't! You know that show Pepper Ann? I decided to mix her in with 'The Outsiders!' No one has done that yet! This is just going to be one of those fun stories so just read it and drop in a review, 'kay? Oh, and if you have trouble thinking of Pepper Ann as a real human person, do what I do! Just think of a red-head you've seen before, like Kansas from the movie 'Sugar and Spice' or Keri Russell! I don't know if that'll work, but oh well. Oh, and another warning, this will not be exactly like the show because Pepper Ann does NOT play instruments, but it's my story! But she will have the same friends and enemies, though. Ah, just read it or you'll be stuck reading this! (And if you hate Pepper Ann, sorry, but there isn't a Pepper Ann section on this site, and when I was first forming stories for 'The Outsiders', all the girl's names was going to be Aaliyah-Charity, and DON'T tell me I'm too old to be watching that show, please.) Also, after this story, read the sequel, Happy Ann! I'm not done with this story yet, of course, but I just wanted to put up the sequel, too.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not 'The Outsiders' or 'Pepper Ann,' unfortunately.  
  
Chapter 1: Introducing Pepper Ann  
  
I was sitting at the kitchen table just studying a piece of music I got from the band teacher for the piano, piccolo, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, and tuba parts, trying to decide which ones I wanted to play, when my brother Ponyboy came in.  
  
"Hey, Pepper Ann," he said to me as he walked on by, "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm trying to decide which piece I want to play for the band competition and concerts. They're all really good parts, though," I explained to him. He looked at me kind of funny and went to the livingroom. None of my brothers ever understood my interests in music. I don't think even my parents did when they were alive, although they were supportive. You can't deny that I've been working very hard to play these instruments. Darry doesn't like my music very much, he tells me to stop playing all the time. We have a pretty decent relationship with each other, but only because I had made an effort. I don't practice when he's around and I stay out of his way, unlike my other brothers. Maybe that's why we don't have a close relationship. Who knows why he doesn't like me, maybe he's a sexist or something. I always watch my brothers have fun with each other and their friends, and I feel a little left out. I'm not really close with any of them, at least it doesn't feel that way. Maybe it's because I don't go to Ponyboy's school. There's a better hospital at the next two towns fifteen miles away, so I take a city bus to and from another school. I'll explain why when I introduce myself.  
  
My name is Pepper Ann Curtis. My full name is too long to mention. I have red hair and blue eyes like Darry's only more blue. I'm fifteen, right in the middle of Sodapop and Ponyboy. I have asthma and epilepsy. I have seizures every couple of years, and I have to take these disgusting pills, but I've seen other people that are ten times worse off than me. My school that I go to is two towns away from where I live, though. It's a Science, Math, and Music School, which is good for me, except for the Math. My parents paid for me to get my education there because of the hospital. They asked my brothers if they wanted to get tuition there too, but they declined. I'm always quiet in the town I live in, but at the town where I go to school....I am very loud and always speak my mind. Especially if I'm with my two best friends, Nicky and Milo. Nicky's totally book smart, and Milo's an art freak. I do have an enemy, Alice Kane. I hate her, I hate her! She lives in this town, too, and rides the bus with me. She's always showing off and everything. She always beating me at everything, except for at Band, Drama, and Chorus. She can never take that away from me. Never. I don't know anything about the town I live in, only that my brothers and I live here, Ponyboy goes to school here, and Sodapop works at a gas station and Darry works here. Other than that, I'm clueless.  
  
So I'm sitting at the kitchen table when my brothers' buddies come in and make all sorts of noise. They completely ignore me like I'm a freak, but oh well. Sooner or later I make a great topic for them to talk about. They probably think I can't hear them, but I can. It's not flattering to here things about you like, 'She's as quiet as a grave,' or, 'She's so wierd,' when afterwards they talk about some hot babe from their school who was defintely NOT wierd to them. They don't know me that well. Once Darry even told me to stop living in my music and get normal. If he even knew me at all. If any of them knew me at all. I so very much wish I could have one of those lovely sister-brother relationships, but I just don't. The only thing I do in that house I live in is practice my instruments and even though I hate to admit it, that's the only time I feel really loved in this town. Only time I really get with them is when Darry goes to my school so my teachers can rant and rave about me. They never been to any of my concerts and I never see what they do outside of the house. I don't know where anything is in this town except for the bus station. But let me get back to you, alright? I really wanna decide soon what I want to play so I'll just practice them.  
  
"HEY, PEPPER ANN! YOUR FRIEND IS ON THE PHONE!" Sodapop yelled at me. I rushed out to get it before Two-Bit could harass one of my friends on there like he did a couple of times earlier.  
  
"Hello?" I said into the reciever.  
  
"She talks!" I heard Dally sarcasticially say.  
  
"Yeah, but only to those people she goes to school with," I heard Soda say.  
  
"Pepper Ann, we have so much to plan! What are we gonna do?" Nicky said in her soft voice.  
  
"Don't worry, Nicky, we have plenty of time. All we have to watch out for is Lice Kane and her lice colonies," I cracked up. I have a very wierd sense of humor.  
  
"Pepper Ann, I'm quite sure that Alice Kane does not have lice," she said.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah....," I replied, "Hey, Nicky, I have to find out what instrument I should play before Darry comes home, so I better let you go."  
  
"Okay, but Pepper Ann, I really think you and your brothers should establish a better relationship," she advised me.  
  
"Nicky, that's all good and all that ya care for me and all, but I'm telling you, my brothers and I have absolutely ZERO chance of being close. They are WAY too preoccupied with their own lives that they don't care about mine," I told her, "You'll see when you come home with me tommorow."  
  
"Oh, yes, tell Darry I thank him for having the added burden of another two people in his household for the upcoming day," she told me to do for her and Milo.  
  
"Believe me, Nicky, he won't even know you're here," I assured her, "Unless he yells at us to stop playing our instruments."  
  
"Alright, bye, Pepper Ann," she told me before hanging up. I looked at the clock and my eyes went wide. Darry was going to be home soon and I had to hurry and practice before he yells at me to do some meaningless chore. I grab my trumpet and close the door so no one will complain and start practicing, pronto. Then for the next few hours I'm on my peak of practicing when suddenly I hear-  
  
"PEPPER ANN! WHY HAVEN'T YOU TAKEN OUT THE TRASH!!!!" I heard Darry yell very very loud at the door.  
  
"Errrrrrrrrrrr," I growl, and yell just as loud, "COMING!!!!" Why do I have to take this from him every single solitary day?! This is injustice and it's not fair!  
  
"Errrrrr....I bet Yo-Yo Ma's parents don't make him take out the trash whenever he's home," I grouch as I take out the trash, "And he's younger than me, too, and he's a child prodigy."  
  
"PEPPER ANN! CLEAN UP THIS MESS OF INSTRUMENTS IN YOUR ROOM!" Darry screamed from across the house.  
  
"I'm coming," I say kind of tiredly, you know, the way your voice gets when you're tired of something?  
  
"Are you okay, Pepper Ann?" Sodapop asked me.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," I told him, but it was kind of surprising that he actually cared. I packed up all the instruments and piles of music, and soon I had to do my homework. I always do it at the kitchen table where Darry's cooking or something.  
  
"Is your friends still coming over?" he asked me.  
  
"Uh-huh, Nicky said these exact words. 'Oh yes, tell Darry I thank him for having the added burden of another two people in his household for the upcoming day,'" I repeated what she said to tell him.  
  
"Well, at least someone has some courtesy. You should be more like her," Darry told me.  
  
"That's what everyone says," I told him before we heard a big bang from the livingroom and Darry rushed to see what it was.  
  
Soon I finished all my homework, and pretty soon we all had dinner and was in bed, ready to go to sleep and rest for another day....  
  
At four o'clock in the morning when my alarm clock rang, I had to really force myself to get up. The only thing that got me out of bed was the thought of in an hour Ponyboy and Sodapop would be up talking about guy stuff. Plus the bus was coming in about an hour and ten minutes.  
  
I dressed in blue jeans, a yellow turtleneck with a blue-jean jacket over that with black high-heeled boots with my red hair in a blue twist- tie. Usually I would wear something like a purple shirt with a yellow skirt with olives on it, but I really don't like skirts or dresses that much, unless I want to look nice. And I don't look too bad in what I have on now. And besides, it's getting to be cold weather. I'm glad I don't go to one of those schools that require girls to wear dresses. I see no point in that. But I'm not totally feminist like Kelly, one of my friends. She says that just encourages sexual harrassment. I just think that's old-fashioned and some girls just look better in pants.  
  
As I went towards the bus stop, I saw a very drunk girl coming outside of a crummy apartment that I always passed. She was wearing a very short skirt and a very very tiny top that didn't even cover everything. If anyone asked why I never liked wearing skirts unless I wanted to, I would just tell them that I've met a lot of girls that does enough skirt-wearing for this world. And why is most girls bleaching their hair blonde? It's just- oh, wait, the bus is coming, never mind!  
  
*Tell Me What You Think In A Review! (Just don't make it too harsh! ^_^!)* 


	2. Sceince Competitons and Threats

Pepper Ann  
  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Hi, I'm back! Hey, if you have trouble thinking of Alice Kane as a person, imagine Cokie Mason from the Babysitters' Club movie! Works for me! Nicky and Milo....um, I have no idea. Hey, I need more characters for this story and other ones, too! If you don't mind me using your character, please tell me in a review, bacause I need to use them, please! Thank you!  
  
Disclaimer: 'The Outsiders' belongs to S.E. Hinton, a wonderful writer.  
  
Chapter 2: Science Competition & Threats  
  
"Pepper Ann, you're late....AGAIN!" Mr. Carter screamed at me as he passed me yet another detention slip. Guess I wouldn't be going to Honor Band practcie after school. I sighed and sat down for yet another boring Science class where I already knew the whole thing.  
  
"Now, for what I was fixing to say before someone disturbed it was that it is one month from the deadline of the thirty-fifth annual Science contest! Last year, Alice Kane was the winner with her genious possum in a barrel idea! If you have any questions, ask her!" Mr. Carter screamed happily, while I was fuming. Alice Kane....ohh I hate her so much! I looked over to the bulliton board where her picture with the possum in the barrel was. I imagined her laughing at me with the stupid possum joining her. I gritted my teeth at her. I was going to beat her. I'll show her....  
  
"Pepper Ann! Are you there?" Nicky asked me.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah," I answered.  
  
"So when does the bus come to take us away from our fair town?" Milo said dramaticially.  
  
"At four, six, eight, and ten o'clock. Looks like it'll be six because of this detention," I glumly said, "So much for Honor Band practice."  
  
"Doesn't the Band teacher ever worry that you miss so many practices because of your detentions?" Nicky asked. I shrugged, but inside she was worrying me.  
  
"I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm going to beat Alice Kane at that Science competition!" I yelled all determined. I was going to win.  
  
"Oh, Pepper Ann," Nicky said, and shook her head. All day she said that as I announced my going to beat Alice Kane. Milo and me were thinking of evil ways to beat her and Nicky made sure it wasn't too graphic.  
  
After detention, a quick yearbook staff meeting, and Orchestra practice, Nicky, Milo, and me were boarding the bus. We sat in the back while Alice Kane sat in the front. Me and Milo were making faces at her and stuff while Nicky tried to calm us down.  
  
When we got off the bus, Nicky asked if she could see the library, so we all went on a search for it, since I had no idea where it was. On the way there, we saw a DX gas station, and I saw Sodapop, Steve, Ponyboy, Dally, Two-Bit, and Johnny there with a flock of over-crazed teenage girls around Sodapop, including guess who....ALICE KANE! AHHHH!!!!  
  
"Hey, it's Pepper Ann!" Two-Bit decided to scream, pointing at me. Of course then, I covered my face and walked away, but Steve yelled at my friends and me to come over.  
  
As we came over, I introduced Nicky and Milo to everyone, hoping Alice Kane didn't see us. But then, she did.  
  
"Oh look, it's P. Ann," Alice came over to where I was with a nasty smirk on her face.  
  
"It's Pepper Ann!" I spat out. I hope some of it got on her face. I saw Steve and Ponyboy coming over, seeing as me and Alice Kane were not being friendly to each other.  
  
"I just wanted to say good luck at the Science competition being second place, whereas I'll sit upon my first place and look down on you. I'll let you in a secret. This year....is personal best. It is an authenic BODY MUFF!" she screamed. Then she walked to the side of me, and crossed her arms, touching her hands to the top of her elbows. Then she laughed a maniac laughter.  
  
"People in the Arctic will feel like they're on the beach! Skiing will be like tanning in Flordia! Don't you see P. Ann! This will be the bast invention EVER!!!! MWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" she laughed. I gritted my teeth, and Steve held my arms while I tried to punch her smack in her face. She laughed again, and I was fixing to break free and Milo, Ponyboy, and Johnny had to help Steve hold me down.  
  
"Oh yeah, well guess what?! I had one reason to win this Science competion, to win, but now I gotta new reason....kicking your ass!" I yelled at her.  
  
"Oh, yeah, well I'd like to see you try, P. Ann," she fought back. Two- Bit came over and held her down, but I was so mad, even the four guys couldn't hold me back. Sodapop and Dally came over and helped them hold me from beating the living crap out of her. Then, Alice laughed again and went away. All six guys let go of me. That was kind of funny, six guys had to hold me down, but only one was required to get Alice down.  
  
"Oooohhhh, I am going to beat her!!!!" I said with a lot of determination.  
  
"Pepper Ann, why must you hold such a grudge towards Alice Kane?" Nicky asked in her soft voice.  
  
"Nicky, Alice Kane has beaten me at everything except for in Fine Arts!" I yelled.  
  
"Pepper Ann, you're bring ridiculous. I remember very distincly when you won over her at....uh....," she staggered.  
  
"See?! That's why I'm going to beat her!" I smiled, and motioned for Nicky and Milo to come with me back to my house. Everyone else was shocked and surprised at my un-shyness. I wasn't shy around Alice Kane, that's for sure. I put my arms around Nicky and Milo's shoulders and went home.  
  
As we passed buildings and such, we heard people say words such as 'Socs' and 'Greasers.'  
  
"Nicky?" I asked.  
  
"Yes?" she asked back.  
  
"What's a Soc and what's a Greaser?" I whispered.  
  
"I don't know, I'm only book-smart. I wouldn't know. Milo?" she asked Milo.  
  
"Wait a second, I'm not asking someone. After the 'frazny' incident, I don't think so, sister!" he yelled. Just then, a boy on a skateboard whized by us, screaming, "Milo's a LOSER!!!!" Somehow lately, boys on skateboards would call Milo that after the 'frazny' incident.  
  
"Oohhh," he was mad, too, but not at Alice. When we got to my house, we all went in my room, and started practicing our instruments. Milo played percussion, Nicky played violin, and I played....well, you already know, but for right then, I played the oboe.  
  
"So, Pepper Ann, are you going to try out for a spot for the Chorus Christmas ensemble?" Nicky asked.  
  
"Yeah, but I won't be able to practice it at home unless all my brothers are out because they'll make fun of me. I'm also going to try for a Band one, too, though," I told her.  
  
"So am I, for my violin. Hey, I know, we can do a duet! You can play the school's viola!" she exclaimed, getting all excited.  
  
"Okay! That'll be great!" I said, almost forgetting Alice Kane.  
  
"Hey, what about me?" Milo asked.  
  
"Okay, you can play the autoharp," Nicky said with a disgust to her tone. Me and Nicky hate the autoharp more than anything. We don't know why, though. We were talking about it, and moved to the kitchen, when Soda, Pony, and all their friends came over, and luckily, no one bothered us.  
  
"Hey, do you have your blank sheet music?" Nicky asked me.  
  
"Oh yeah, I have everything," and went to my room to get my blank sheet music. On the way out, I heard Ponyboy talking.  
  
"Pepper Ann's friends are Socs," he said to them.  
  
"I know, what are Socs doing being her friends? Don't they know you're not supposed to be friends with Greasers if you're a Soc?" Dally snarled.  
  
"Yeah, but Pepper Ann doesn't look like a Greaser," Ponyboy argued.  
  
"Yeah, but she doesn't look like a Soc either. She just looks like....," Two-Bit said, not finishing what I looked like.  
  
"She looks like Pepper Ann. She's her own unique person," Steve stood up for me. I smiled, and went out of the room to go see why Nicky wanted my blank sheet music.  
  
"Hey, you guys, guess what? My brothers and their friends just called you guys 'Socs' and me a 'Greaser'. What are 'Socs' and what are 'Greasers'? Are they bad?" I asked. They shrugged, not knowing either, but we forgot all about it, as we started talking about other stuff. Suddenly, the subject of the Science competition came up, and I was saying all sorts of stuff about Alice Kane. If you knew Alice Kane, you'd join me, too. I grabbed a snow globe from the kitchen counter and started shaking it as Milo told us some wierd jokes about snakes and blondes, while Nicky was glaring at him.  
  
"C'mon, you guys, let's go to my room," I told them, and they started to get up. I kept shaking the snow globe and as we walked passed the livingroom, I started imagining Alice Kane skiing down a mountain in the so- called 'body muff' and then a avalance comes and makes her disapear. I start laughing at the thought. I felt everyone staring at me, and I heard Darry coming in. As I start thinking of it some more, I threw the snow globe over my shoulder and felt Darry catching it, and looking at me as I entered my room.  
  
"Oh, I'm one sick person," I told Nicky and Milo as I told them what I thought.  
  
"Pepper Ann!" Nicky scolded me, but Milo was laughing hystericially. We started to talk about video games, when I felt a great speech coming up in my head.  
  
I started, "I know it's bad to think about Alice Kane like that, but soon it'll be my-"  
  
"TIME FOR DINNER!!!!" Darry screamed. Nicky laughed.  
  
"Uh....c'mon, let's go," I beckoned them to follow me. We sat down to eat at the kitchen table, while my brothers and their friends ate in the livingroom. Suddenly, their side was quiet, then our side was quiet. Sudeenly, Milo laughed, breaking the silence.  
  
"Oh, now I get it! You were going to say time, but then Darry said, 'Time for dinner!' Oh!" and then he laughed. I stared at him.  
  
"Um, anyways....so do y'all wanna go to Brain Dead tommorow?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, no! After last time....maybe in the future, but right now, my shock is not over," Nicky shuddered.  
  
"Okay, what about you, Milo? Wanna have a Crunch Pod tourne?" I asked.  
  
"Bring it on, sister!" he challenged.  
  
"Honestly, guys, I DON'T know how you can play your silly video games when you could be reading a great novel," Nicky said to us. We stared at her. Then we heard Darry come in.  
  
"Hello, Nicky, Milo," he said.  
  
"Hi, Darry," Milo said.  
  
"Hello, Darry, thank you for having us," Nicky thanked him.  
  
"You're welcome," he said and went back to the other room.  
  
"You okay, Nicky?" I asked her. Her face was all red and everything, which was quite un-like Nicky.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm quite alright, Milo," she waved her hand at me. She was acting quite strange, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why she was so red in the face. I looked at Milo, but he shrugged at me.  
  
"Hey, Nicky? Why did you start getting red in the face after you saw Pepper Ann's brother?" Milo asked kinda quiet.  
  
"I'm okay," she smiled. We dragged her over to my room and tried to snap her out of it, but by the time it was time to go to the bus stop, she was still zonked out.  
  
"Well, c'mon, it's time to go to the bus stop," I told them.  
  
"Okay," Nicky said softly, and when we went out, we saw Darry pass us.  
  
"Hey, Darry, can I go with them to the bus stop?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah, but be careful," he agreed. Like their could be any danger.  
  
"Okay, thanks," I said with gratitude.  
  
"Bye, Mr. Curtis," Nicky said, her face blood red.  
  
"Huh?" Milo asked, confused.  
  
"Um....o-kay, bye, Nicky, Milo, hurry back Pepper Ann," Darry said to us as he went back to his friends.  
  
"Bye," Milo said as we dragged Nicky to the bus stop.  
  
"Do you think you can get Nicky home by yourself?" I asked Milo.  
  
"I guess so," he said and dragged her on the bus with their stuff. I waved goodbye to them and went on my way home. A blue car started following me........  
  
*Please Review!* 


	3. School Bands And Dreams

Pepper Ann  
  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Here's Chapter 3! I hope you like it! I think you'll really enjoy this chapter! It's probably going to be the most stupidest chapter you ever read, but humor me, and say you like it! After I got a bad review for my story Aaliyah, I got writer's block and I don't think I'll get over it, so please don't write a bad review, because it'll break my heart! ^_^! Oh, if you don't remember, David's the guy that "gave" Ponyboy a "bath" in the book. Oh, and on the "riding the trombone like a bull" part, I mean that they ride it like they do on 'Happy Gilmore.' I know it seems all Pepper Ann cares about is music, but in a few chapters, it'll be quite different, so just wait! ^_^!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Outsiders' or 'Pepper Ann.' Sorry. I have no idea if there's a song called 'Falling Stars.' If there's not, then it belongs to me. I got the title from the V.C. Andrews book.  
  
Thank You: Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so so much to all y'all that reviewed, like Carina, BsBcHiCk, WriterChicMA, Hoperz, Ashera, precious little bat out of hell, and LadyAurora2065! Thank you thank you SOOO much! I can't believe I got NINE reviews in three days! ^_^! I love all y'all!  
  
Chapter 3: School Bands & Dreams  
  
I was just stepping on my front lawn, when my brothers and their friends came out of the house. As I said, the blue car was following me. It slowed down, and my brothers and their friends' eyes grew wide. Suddenly, the person driving rolled down it's windows.  
  
"Hey, Pepper Ann!" Randy Adderson said to me. He stuck his head out, and saw David in there, too.  
  
"Oh, hi, Randy, David! How's your Band doing?" I asked him, grimacing at how I met him.  
  
"After we lost and got such a bad grade, the teacher started getting all over us, and I'm thinking of quitting," he told me.  
  
"Don't quit! You just might get a good mark next festival!" I sarcasticially said. I remembered the festival, and how much they sucked. I'm sorry to say so, but all they did was fight each other, and even fought when they were playing! It was horrible!  
  
"Alright, well, see ya later!" Randy and David called to me, and drove away. I went towards the house.  
  
"How do you know Randy and David?" Sodapop asked me, a little surprise in his voice.  
  
"Oh, well, a month ago, our school bands were in a festival. My school got the highest mark you can get, but your school....uh, didn't get so well. They fought all the time, and some of us at my school had to seperate the fights between them. I'm sorry to say this, but your school's band really sucks. They need to stop fighting each other and actually play," I said to them all. They all gaped at me as I went inside. I felt a little guilty putting down their band, because if they hadn't fought, they would've been a wonderful band.  
  
"Well, what does that have to do with Randy and David?" Steve followed me inside, along with everyone else.  
  
"Well, Randy plays the clarinet, and David plays the oboe. That day, I played the English horn. That day, I don't think no one could've played a worse 'Falling Stars' than them," I told them. I remember that. They kept getting distracted by each other.  
  
"O-kay," Sodapop commented to my descriptions. Ponyboy and Johnny were like all frightened and you could see it in their eyes. I remember when they ran away after Johnny killed Bob, a tuba player. I was away on a band competition that lasted two weeks where we competed against all these school bands from around the country. We came in fourth place. Bob's school didn't make the second event, so they went back to Oklahoma, while ours went on to Texas. I remembered seeing my brother's picture on the news and I was like, "WHA!?!" I had to wait a week and a half before I found out everything that happened. Johnny got hurt in a fire, and the doctors thought he would die, but he didn't. He was in a wheelchair, but surprisingly, he can walk on crutches, and what happens from here on is in God's hands. When I came home, I had a small collection of newspapers with Ponyboy and Johnny in them. The Atlanta Constitution, New York Times, etc., etc. They were pretty short articles, but I saved them anyways. Some of them had me in them about the competition and all that.  
  
"Goodnight, y'all," I told everyone and went in my room, and fell asleep with my baseball bat. I like sleeping with my baseball bat for good luck in baseball season. I heard Ponyboy and Sodapop come in and go to sleep, too, but I was too asleep to hear what they said. That night, I dreamed that I was a concert pianist, and when I went backstage after one of my concerts, I saw Nicky making out with Darry. I screamed at them, but they just kept making out. I went back to the stage and saw Milo in a red sequened dress with black high-heels and a huge blonde wig on, singing a version of "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain," tapping a tamborine against his right hip. Then I dreamed that Sodapop was burning a viola and then Johnny and Ponyboy was riding my trombone like a bull. Then Steve was making humungous dents in a tuba and turned into a gutter clown. Two-Bit was using a flute for a hockey stick and then the flute turned into two piccolos. I was then at an altar where Dally and Alice Kane was getting married. Then Darry came up to me saying that me and Alice Kane had to switch brains and I'll be stuck playing the autoharp for the rest of my life. I started screaming, but they kept doing those disturbing things. Suddenly, I felt people shaking me.  
  
"WHAT?! HUH?!" I screamed, and looked around. I found myself on the floor and grabbing Steve's arm. Everyone was there in the room, looking at me. I let go.  
  
"You were dreaming," Darry told me, "First you were cheering, then screaming, then laughing, then screaming, then laughing, and then you screamed so loud that we had to wake you up, but you were walking on your bed swinging your baseball bat everywhere until the end of your dream."  
  
"Yeah, and you screamed at us in your sleep. You yelled, 'Ponyboy! Johnny! Stop riding my trombone like a bull!'," Ponyboy told me. I started laughing at the remembrance of that part of the dream.  
  
"Then you yelled at me to stop burning the viola," Sodapop said. My laughter ceased.  
  
"Then you said for me to stop playing hockey with a flute," Two-Bit said, "Then gasped because the flute turned into two piccolos or whatever."  
  
"Yeah, then you said that I got married to Alice Kane," Dally sneered, "Like I'd actually do that."  
  
"Then you said I was making dents in a tuba and turned into a gutter clown," Steve said, shaking his head, "You have some weird dreams."  
  
"The worse thing was, that as Darry tried to wake you up, you grabbed Steve's arm and thought he was Darry. You begged him not to make you switch brains with Alice Kane and play the autoharp or something," Sodapop told me.  
  
"Sorry," I apologized to them, "Was I that loud?"  
  
"Yeah, I thought you were dying or something," Two-Bit said to me.  
  
"Sorry, I'll try to be more quiet," I said.  
  
"C'mon, some of y'all have school tommorow," Darry instructed them. They all went out except Sodapop and Ponyboy and they were talking in the bad that they shared. I was too tired to spy on them, so I just slept a dreamless sleep, thankfully.  
  
*Please Review unless it's really mean! This was meant to be funny and meant to make ya laugh!*  
  
In Loving Memory of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.  
  
1971-2002  
  
-Heaven has another angel. 


	4. Nicky & Report Cards

Pepper Ann  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Oh hey! After writing about six different versions of Chapter 4....here it is! It's much different than my first idea for this chapter, but that'll come later in the story. Oh, this story is set in the 1960's, even though P.A. acts a little TOO modern.  
  
Modern A/N: Okay, I wrote this a LONG time ago! Further chapters are going to be SOOO much better with the stuff I have planned....^_^!  
  
Disclaimer: 'The Outsiders' belongs to S.E. Hinton and 'Pepper Ann' belongs to Sue Rose.  
  
Chapter 4: Nicky & Report Cards  
  
That very wierd encounter last night made me a very drowsy Pepper Ann. I didn't realize it until I heard my brother Ponyboy's voice saying, "Hey, shouldn't Pepper Ann be at the bus stop by now?"  
"I don't know, wake her up," Sodapop said and then a pillow was thrown at my face.  
"AHHH!!!! WHAT WAS....HEY WHY IS THE SKY SO BRIGHT....WHAT TIME IS....AHHHHH!!!!!! I'M GONNA BE LATE!!!!!" I said without thinking. I had looked at the time: 6:00 A.M. The bus was coming in five minutes!!!! I lept up and literally threw myself in the bathroom. Three minutes later, I was dressed and out of the bathroom.  
"Hey, two extra minutes!" I exclaimed. I looked in the mirror for like two seconds patting my hair, then got out my bassoon and playing that thing you hear at baseball games where you yell "Charge!" at the end, and ran out of the door. I was about a quarter there, when I realized, I forgot something. Quickly I ran back. I burst through the door, and everyone looks up.  
"I FORGOT MY TROMBONE!!!!!!!!" I yell Bloody-Mary, and went under the couch between where Soda and Steve were sitting and grabbed my precious trombone that I had since the third grade. It was my very first instrument, and me and Mr. Trombone had gone through lots of times together. It was also really special because my it was my Daddy's trombone. My mother also gave me an instrument, too, that she had played in the sixth grade but gave it up for a "normal" social life. I still don't get it, but at least she kept it. She gave it to me in the fifth grade. Darry played Daddy's trombone for like, one year, but quit to play football. What a dummy. Sodapop didn't even give it a try, and Ponyboy really didn't like it, so they are all dummies. How could they NOT love playing these? But it could be worse, such as if Darry hogged the trombone or something. My parents were really proud at my musical talents, but then again, they were proud of everything I did, like when I switched from the baseball team to the football team to the soccer team. I don't even think my brothers care if I'm on the streets, so so much for support now.  
"Hey, P. Ann. I mean, Second Place P. Ann," she said with a smirk.  
"Alice Kane, shut it. I'm tired of you talking to me," I said, and went on. She rolled her eyes. Suddenly, but not soon enough, the bus came. It was a regular fun day at school, until something really weird was happening. Nicky was still zoned out from my house.  
"Hello, Pepper Ann, how's your eldest brother, Mr. Curtis?" she asked in a strange voice. She hadn't been like that since she started going out with Stuart Walldinger in the seventh grade. What was going on? Am I being completely oblivious to something?   
"She's been like that ever since yesturday," Milo whispered in my ear.  
"Did Darry do something to you when we weren't looking?" I asked her softly.  
"No, he just mezmerized me with himself just like in 'Jane Eyre,'" she was still acting crazy.  
"Um....do you think she likes-," Milo started, but then Nicky started floating away, dancing while her Advanced Trigonometry book was on her head. I looked at Milo and he just shrugged. It was like this all throughout the day. Even in Orchestra, she forgot to put rosin on her violin (and broke a string) and she played the wrong notes. She has NEVER done that! What has Darry done? Did he even do anything?  
The time came for me to get on the bus. I carried my trombone, alto sax, and bassoon with me. I stormed all the way home not caring if people gave me weird looks. When I got home, I found that Darry was the only one home. Darry was at the kitchen table signing papers or something.  
"Darry....I have a question........WHAT DID YOU TO NICKY?! Aha-aha-aha! SHE'S A ZOMBIE AND YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT DIDN'T YOU?!" I pointed my shaky mad right index finger at him.  
"Uh-I haven't done anything with Nicky except to tell Milo and her hello and goodbye," he said.  
"Are you....sure?" I asked reluctantly.  
"Yes, I am," he said, "Are you okay, Pepper Ann?"  
"I am, but Nicky isn't. She's been acting weird since she was over here, she calls you Mr. Curtis, and the worst thing of all....she forgot to put rosin on her violin and broke a string AND she played the wrong notes," I told him, "She hasn't been like that since she started dating Stuart Walldinger. Well-actually, when she WAS dating Stuart Walldinger, she was hiding in the bathroom playing in one of the stalls and writing the pros and cons of dating on toilet paper, but nothing like this." When I said the thing about the toilet, Darry looked at me and felt my forehead.  
"Are you sure you're okay, Pepper Ann?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I am. Anyways, sorry for my false accusations," I apologized, "Oh yeah, my report card came in today." I handed him my report card and went to my room. I didn't want him to see my Math grade. I got a 85! THAT'S A C! My teacher got so mad when I did! EEK! Forget Nicky, I'm going to die when he sees my grade! Oh well-I'll just play my bassoon. Who knows when I'll ever get a chance to play the bassoon again? 


	5. FreeLance Playing

Pepper Ann  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Hello! I'm back with another chapter! Alrighty, let me clear up some stuff! Yeah, I know in most schools an 85 is a B, but for Hazelnut, I'm making it a high C! Why? No clue! ^_^! I'm just weird, but don't let that make you run away in fear, for here's Chapter 5! Yeah!  
  
Disclaimer: Um, I still don't own The Outsiders if that's what you're (STILL) wondering.   
  
Chapter 5: FreeLance Playing  
  
Anyways, like I said, I was practicing my bassoon. Well, actually it wasn't MY bassoon, it was the school's but they let me borrow it since I was a bassooner. Actually, I'm a freelance player in my school which means that I play different instruments for class and marching band, but I'm a freelance player, primarily trombone. It's kind of weird, but it's fun! Though it's hard to become one because you have to be able to play at least twelve instruments for a full-freelance, eight if you're a freelance primarily something else. At the end of each year, if it's what you really wanna do, you have to play 144 major scales to be a full-freelance player, and 96 to be a freelance primarily something else. If you just want to do one instrument you only do twelve to determine if you're in Symphonic Wind, Honor, Concert, or Intermediate Band. But enough about that! I have to practice before Darry gets on to me about my gra-  
"PEPPER ANN!" Darry yelled. -des. See what I meant? Yep.   
Nervously I walked into where Darry was. By this point, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny was in the livingroom.  
"Yep?" I asked, playin with my hands behind my back.  
"Have you seen your grades?" Darry said.  
"Yeah, but it's not my fault! I swear it....that woman is against me! You can't believe her!" I said, spazing out again.  
"Um....Pepper Ann? What are you talking about?" Darry asked, "Your grades are pretty good to me, even though your grading system is kind of messy."  
"Oh....well, then....that's okay! It's all good, yeah, goodbye!" I said, and ran to my room. When I got there I was partying because I didn't get yelled at! Wheeeeeee! Okay, I'll shut up now. I grabbed my bassoon and started to play. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, if you're in Concert AND Marching you have to do it twice if one or more of your instruments in Concert band isn't appropiate for Marching, such as a bassoon. It's stupid-yes, but that's just the way it is. Oh, and yeah, our grading scale is stupid. An A is a 90-100, an B is a 86-89, a C is a 75-85, and anything below that is a F, and there's no D's. Why? 'Cause my school is really dumb.  
After awhile, (more like an hour and a half) Ponyboy came in so I put up the bassoon, cursing myself because I should've been practicing my stupid alto sax because I suck on it, but I went to bed anyways........  
  
Surprisingly, I woke up WILLINGLY at four-thirty. Guess sleeping early does help, I guess. Erg it! Can't get to sleep....c'mon Pepper Ann, you have so much stuff to do today that you need your frikin' rest! ERGGGGG!!!! I went out to the livingroom and saw Darry in the kitchen.  
"WHAT are you doing here at 4:30?" I asked him, scrathing my head.  
"I have work," he said simply, his bags under his eyes drooping.  
"WORK?! Man, I'm going back to sleep," I said and went back to bed, finally able to rest.  
  
A/N: ^_^! Hope ya liked it! I know it's short, but I have to reherse to audition for the musicial since NO MORE MARCHING BAND! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I can't do it....band geek goes to drama geek? ACK! 


End file.
